Medical pump monitoring system

ABSTRACT

A medical pump monitor system in which an infusion circuitry creation unit setting/changing the connection conditions of infusion lines from a plurality of medical pumps, and administration passes and/or administration positions for a patient is provided, and it is made possible to display infusion circuitry data created in the infusion circuitry creation unit on a monitor screen by operations by an operator of the medical pump monitor system. And, a real-time monitoring system performing real time communication with external apparatuses including one or more medical apparatuses, and controlling the external apparatuses and/or displaying the conditions of the external apparatuses, including a communication unit communicating with external apparatuses, a display unit displaying the conditions of the external apparatuses, storing unit storing one or more past communication data obtained by the communication unit, a comparison unit comparing currently communicated data with past data, and a control unit controlling contents to be displayed on the display unit based on signals from the comparison unit, in which the comparison unit reduces the amount of the data for the amount of signals to be sent to the control unit, in the case where the past data and the current data are identical to each other in comparison with the case where the past data and the current data are different from each other.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a medical pump monitor systemadministering medical fluids using a plurality of medical pumps for onepatient, and managing information of these medical pumps collectively, acontrolling method therefore, and a computer-readable memory associatedwith control thereof. The present invention also relates to a real-timemonitoring system performing real-time communication with externalapparatuses including one or more medical apparatuses to control suchexternal apparatuses and/or display the conditions thereof, acontrolling method therefore, and a computer-readable memory (storagemedium) storing therein a control program thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Varieties of therapies and drugs for use in those therapies haveemerged and administration methods have become complicated due to recentadvancement of medical treatments. Accordingly, therapies in which aplurality of medical pumps (syringe pump and infusion pump) is used at atime for one patient are on the increase. Also, systems managing theflows of administered medical fluids from plurality of such medicalpumps and alarm information such as a drop in residual lowbattery/occlusion of an infusion line have been proposed.

[0003] A system in which visual contact is made with the displayedstates of alarms in such a medical pump system is disclosed in JapanesePatent Laid-open No. 5-7623 specification.

[0004] A schematic diagram of a system in which medical pumpsindependent of one another are connected to a personal computer viacommunication cables, and flow volumes and alarm information of themedical pumps are collected and displayed as application software of thepersonal computer is shown in FIG. 2.

[0005] Also, a schematic diagram of a type of a pump monitor system inwhich pumps share a power supply line and a data communication line withone another through a power connector 53 and a communication connector54, and medical pumps 51 and 52 are connected in such a manner that theyare stacked one after another on a base unit 55 comprising a displayunit 101 on which the flow and alarm information for each pump is shownin FIG. 3.

[0006] Furthermore, in the case of such a system, in addition tocollection of pump information, control such as stop/start of infusionby pumps and change of flows can also be performed from the personalcomputer and the base unit.

[0007]FIG. 2 shows a conventional medical pump system, wherein referencenumeral 20 denotes a personal computer with system application softwareinstalled therein, reference numeral 21 denotes a display device(display unit) such as a CRT and a liquid crystal monitor connected tothe personal computer, reference numeral 22 denotes communication portexpanding means such as a multiplexer for expanding communication portsof RS 232C that are typically provided with only one or two channels to4 channels, 8 channels or the like, and reference numerals 23, 24, 25and 26 denote medical pumps. Also, reference numeral 27 denotes apatient, and medical pumps of 23 to 26 deliver individual set liquidmedicines into the patient.

[0008]FIGS. 4A to 4C show cases where the same number of medical pumpsas in FIG. 2 are used to perform administration for one patient, whereintheir administration passes are different from one another due to thecondition of the patient, administrated drugs and the like. For example,FIG. 4A shows a case where four pumps each have individual infusionlines and drugs are injected into different points of the patient, andFIG. 4B shows a case where two infusion lines of four medical pumps areconnected with each other and the other two infusion lines are alsoconnected with each other. Also, FIG. 4C shows a case where four medicalpumps are all integrated into one line to carry out administration forthe patient.

[0009] It is important in safe administration that the state of theinfusion line is ascertained correctly, and there are various patternsas to states of infusion lines as administration passes to the patientin this way, but in fact, it becomes very difficult to identify thepoints of the patient into which the medical fluid is injected ifinfusion lines running from a plurality of pumps are connected with oneanother and cross one another.

[0010] However, conventional pump monitor systems have no functions todisplay infusion lines on the system, thus making it difficult toascertain the state of infusion lines correctly.

[0011] Also, on the other hand, when a system in which one or moreexternal apparatuses (hereinafter also referred to as “slaves”) such asinfusion pumps, syringe pumps, blood-pressure monitors and urinaryvolume monitors are connected to a host machine to manage and displaythe operation conditions of the apparatuses is built, works of:

[0012] (1) setting a communication protocol of nodes

[0013] (2) sending a request command

[0014] (3) receiving data and confirming the reception

[0015] (4) carrying out control in accordance with data are performed atthe host machine side.

[0016] As a matter of course, the loads on the CPU of the host machineare increased if these processing are performed at high speed, and realtime quality is compromised if a large number slaves are connected.Also, even if a system is made such that processing is distributed overa plurality of CPUs like a CPU (main CPU) engaged in processing ofcontrolling and displaying slave conditions in the host machine and CPUs(sub CPUs) engaged in communication with each slave, enormousdevelopment costs are required for both main and sub CPUs due toaddition of slaves and change of specifications, although processing atthe main CPU is slightly curtailed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0017] The present invention has been made in the light of problems asdescribed above, and its object is to provide a system in which theoperation conditions of a plurality of medical pumps are monitored forone patient with a function of creating and editing an infusion linefrom the pump to the patient on each-by-each basis, and displayinformation created and edited by means of this function on the system,thereby making it more easy to confirm the current states of infusionlines.

[0018] Another object of the present invention is to provide a functionof capturing hand written diagrams and so on together with the functionof creating and editing the infusion line, and an operator is allowed tomake a choice on whether the function of creating and editing theinfusion line is used to create the infusion line, or handwrittendiagrams and so on are captured in the system to display the same, thusmaking it possible display various cases of the infusion line on themedical pump monitor system.

[0019] Still another object of the present invention is to provide areal-time monitoring system, a controlling method therefore and aprogram storage medium, which enable real-time monitoring of theoperation states, arrangement/connection states, alarm information of aplurality of medical apparatuses such as infusion pumps, syringe pumps,blood monitors, urinary volume monitors, water contents of medicalfluids, states of intake and output of electrolytes and so on.

[0020] Other features and advantages of the present invention will beapparent from the following descriptions taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in andconstitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of theinvention and, together with the descriptions, serve to explain theprinciple of the invention.

[0022]FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a medical pump system in the firstembodiment of the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the medical pump system in priorarts;

[0024]FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a medical pump system of anotherembodiment in prior arts;

[0025]FIG. 4A shows one of block diagrams of infusion circuitry patternsin the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0026]FIG. 4B shows one of block diagrams of infusion circuitry patternsin the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0027]FIG. 4C shows one of block diagrams of infusion circuitry patternsin the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0028]FIG. 5 shows a medical pump monitor screen in the first embodimentof the present invention;

[0029]FIG. 6 shows a screen for creating infusion circuitry in a medicalpump monitor system in the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0030]FIG. 7A shows the screen for creating infusion circuitry in themedical pump monitor system in the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0031]FIG. 7B shows the screen for creating infusion circuitry in themedical pump monitor system in the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0032]FIG. 7C shows the screen for creating infusion circuitry in themedical pump monitor system in the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0033]FIG. 7D shows the screen for creating infusion circuitry in themedical pump monitor system in the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0034]FIG. 7E shows the screen for creating infusion circuitry in themedical pump monitor system in the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0035]FIG. 7F shows the screen for creating infusion circuitry in themedical pump monitor system in the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0036]FIG. 7G shows the screen for creating infusion circuitry in themedical pump monitor system in the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0037]FIG. 8 shows the screen for creating infusion circuitry accordingto another embodiment in the medical pump monitor system in the firstembodiment of the present invention;

[0038]FIG. 9 shows an example of a configuration of a control unit 100in FIG. 1;

[0039]FIG. 10A is a flowchart showing a flow of infusion circuitrycreation processing in the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0040]FIG. 10B is a flowchart showing the flow of infusion circuitrycreation processing in the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0041]FIG. 11 is a block diagram in the second embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0042]FIG. 12 shows a display screen in the second embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0043]FIG. 13 shows a structure of stored data in a storing unit in thesecond embodiment of the present invention;

[0044]FIG. 14 shows a display screen of real time monitoring in thesecond embodiment of the present invention;

[0045]FIG. 15 shows an inverse data check system in the secondembodiment of the present invention;

[0046]FIG. 16 shows an inverse data check system in the secondembodiment of the present invention;

[0047]FIG. 17 shows an inverse data check system in the secondembodiment of the present invention;

[0048]FIG. 18 shows a method of detecting a position in which data ischanged in the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0049]FIG. 19 shows a method of detecting a position in which data ischanged in the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0050]FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a flow of monitoring processing inthe second embodiment of the present invention;

[0051]FIGS. 21A to 21C show an example of a monitor screen in the firstembodiment of the present invention; and

[0052]FIGS. 22A to 22C show an example of a monitor screen in the firstembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0053] [First Embodiment]

[0054] Examples of specific embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed below. A block diagram of a medical pump system of the presentinvention is shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, an example ofcollecting and managing information of four medical pumps is described.

[0055] Reference numeral 100 denotes a controller (control unit), whichmakes up a central portion of this medical pump monitor system, and forthe controller, a personal computer having an inputting device such as akeyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse is usually used.Reference numeral 101 denotes a display (display unit), which displaysflow values and alarm information for a plurality of medical pumps of103, 104, 105 and 106, collected by the controller 100, and the urinaryvolume from urinary volume meters 111 and the amount of electrolytes(Na⁺, Ca²⁺, K⁺, Cl⁻) from catheter type censor 112, and displaysinfusion lines.

[0056] In the case where the personal computer is used as the controller100, a CRT or a liquid crystal monitor is used for the display (displayunit) 101. Reference numeral 102 denotes a scanner (reading means) forcapturing handwritten information of infusion lines, and referencenumeral 102 a denotes a scanner for reading product identificationinformation (such as bar codes), and they are connected to thecontroller 100. Reference numeral 107 denotes communication portexpansion device (communication port expanding means) such as amultiplexer formultiplying communication ports when the controller 100is poorly equipped with ports for communicating with pumps that collectdata. The controller 100 is connected to medical pumps 103, 104, 105 and106 via this communication port expansion device 107 using acommunication cable (wired) 109 or is connected therewith wirelessly.The configuration of the controller 100 is, for example a configurationas shown in FIG. 9, which comprises a CPU 901, a RAM 902, a ROM 906, aHDD 909, a floppy disk (FD) 906 a, a keyboard 904 and amouse 905, and isconnected to a display 101 and is connected via an I/F 903 to thescanner 102. It is further connected via an I/F 907 to the communicationport expansion device 107. Also, it is connected to the host computer ofa nurse station or the like through an external communication port 107a.

[0057] When the medical pump monitor system is started normally, thecontroller 100 urges an operator to select information of drugs to beadministered by respective pumps from a drug database (drug library)file stored in the memory means in the controller 100. The operator(medical staff such as a doctor and nurse) selects drugs to beadministered such as a vitamin solution for the pump 103, aphysiological salt solution for the pump 104 and high calorie medicalfluids containing electrolytes such as Na⁺, Ca²⁺, K⁺, Cl⁻ for the pump105. Alternatively, the operator inputs product identificationinformation to the system as medical apparatus identificationinformation (such as bar codes) stuck on respective medical pumps usingthe scanner 102 a for respective medical pumps 103 to 106, and readsproduct identification information to the system as drug identificationinformation (such as bar codes) 103 b, 104 b, 105 b and 106 b syringes103 a and 103 b in which drugs are taken in predetermined minutes andwhich are connected to the pumps or fluid containers 105 a and 106 aconnected to the pumps to make a check on whether or not the drug is oneincluded in the drug database file of the controller 100. When themedical pump is not connected, voice information is given by voiceinforming means 908 for calling attention if it is a drug not includedin the database file. The identification information of this pump andthe drug identification information are stored in the RAM 902 as a pair,and are displayed together on the display unit 101 as shown in FIG. 5.When selection of drugs is completed, the controller 100 communicateswith four pumps connected as medical pumps 103, 104, 105 and 106 insuccession at a fixed time interval (for example one minute interval),wirelessly and/or with cables.

[0058] The communication is data for requesting information of currentflows of administered fluids from respective medical pumps 103, 104, 105and 106, and when the request data are received by the pumps, the pumpssend back the flow information to the controller 100 in predeterminedformat. The controller 100 subsequently sends signals requesting alarminformation to the connected medical pumps 103, 104, 105 and 106, andwhen they are received by the pumps, the pumps also send back the alarminformation to the controller 100 based on a predetermined format.Furthermore, if there exists no alarm information, then a signalindicating no alarm information is sent back to the controller 100.

[0059] The controller 100 displays information from connected medicalpumps 103 to 106 on the display (display unit) in such a manner that itis displayed along a pump information display area shown in FIG. 5. InFIG. 5, a region denoted by reference numeral 501 is a region in whichoperation states of medical pumps 103 to 106 are indicated by color, forexample by green during normal operations (described with blank in thisfigure), by red when an alarm is given (described with vertical lines inthis figure), by yellow in the case when administration operations areinterrupted (described with slashes in this figure) and by gray when thepump itself is not connected. Also, its contents (occlusion, abnormalflows, etc.) are displayed at the same time. A region denoted byreference numeral 502 is a region in which the flow value of the pump103 is indicated. Reference numeral 503 denotes a region in which alarminformation currently occurring in the medical pump 103 is indicated,and the region is blanked when no alarm is given. Reference numeral 504denotes a region in which drugs that are administered are displayed. Thesystem can be operated even if drugs to be administered are not defined,but in this case, the region is blanked.

[0060] In a similar way, reference numerals 511 to 514 denote regions inwhich information about the medical pump 104 is displayed, referencenumerals 521 to 524 denote regions in which information about themedical pump 105 is displayed, and reference numerals 531 to 534 denoteregions in which information about the medical pump 106 is displayed.

[0061] Reference numeral 540 denotes an infusion circuitry displayregion (infusion circuitry display unit), a region in which a graphicfile stored in the controller 100 in predetermined format and file nameis displayed. The graphic file may be a general graphic file such as abit map file and a JPG file in the case where the controller 100 is apersonal computer or the like. In this embodiment, a bit map file of 24bits color with 640 dots (lateral direction)×480 dots (verticaldirection) is stored in file name of “C:¥Yuekic.bmp”.

[0062] In the case where any file to be displayed in the infusioncircuitry display region 540 does not exist in the controller 100,nothing is displayed, or “No infusion circuitry file” is displayed atthe center of the region.

[0063] Reference numeral 541 denotes a circuitry creation functioncalling button (circuitry creation function calling means), and byclicking (pressing) the button, an application for creating andmodifying infusion circuitry and storing the same as graphic file data,as described later, is started. Reference numeral 542 denotes acircuitry read function calling button (circuitry read function means),and by clicking (pressing) the button, an application for reading adiagram of infusion circuitry and storing the same as graphic file data,as described later, is started. Furthermore, since both buttons 541 and542 are expedient buttons displayed on the screen, the click (press)operations are operations of moving a pointer of a pointing device suchas a mouse onto the button displayed on the screen and clicking thesame.

[0064] A condition displayed in FIG. 5 is based on the assumption that abit map file for displaying infusion circuitry is stored in advance, andinformation of the medical pump 103 is displayed in the regions 501 to504. In a similar way, a square denoted by numeral 104 corresponds tothe medical pump 104 of which information is displayed in the regions511 to 514, a square denoted by numeral 105 corresponds to the medicalpump 105 of which information is displayed in the regions 521 to 524,and a square denoted by numeral 106 corresponds to the medical pump 106of which information is displayed in the regions 531 to 534.

[0065] By watching the diagram of infusion circuitry in the infusioncircuitry display region 540, it can be understood that infusion lines110 running from the medical pump 103 and the medical pump 104 areintegrated into one line to form a first infusion line L1 to be fixed inadministration position near the right brachium part of the patient 27,and infusion lines 110 running from the medical pump 105 and the medicalpump 106 are integrated into one line to form a second infusion line L2to be fixed in administration position near the left thigh part of thepatient 27.

[0066] A diagram of infusion circuitry should be reregistered not onlyin cases where administration is started for a new patient, but also incases where administration passes are changed due to change of drugs tobe administered for long-term administration.

[0067] For registration of the diagram of infusion circuitry, a“C:¥Yuekic.bmp” file may be created anew. In this embodiment, the“C:¥Yuekic.bmp” file can be created either by clicking the circuitrycreation function calling button 541 or by clicking the circuitry readfunction calling button 542.

[0068] When the circuitry creation function calling button 541 isclicked, a window is displayed on the display unit as shown in FIG. 6.The arrangement of the pumps 103 to 106 is displayed by selecting from aplurality of arrangement patterns stored in memory means that is themost suitable for the therapy for the patient. In FIG. 6, referencenumerals 601 to 604 denote medical pumps as shown in the region 540 inFIG. 5. Reference numeral 27 denotes a model showing the body of thepatient, reference numerals 606 to 613 around the patient 27 denotebuttons (selecting means) for selecting the portion of the patient 27into which injection is made by the infusion line, and referencenumerals 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612 and 613 correspond to a rightclavicle, left clavicle, right brachium part, left brachium part, rightforearm part, left forearm part, right thigh part and left thigh part,respectively.

[0069] Reference numeral 614 denotes a junction production button(junction producing means), reference numeral 615 denotes a button formaking a return by one action in case of erroneous operations, andreference numeral 616 denotes an end button (end inputting means) foroverwriting the infusion circuitry diagram graphic file “C:¥Yuekic.bmp”.

[0070] From this screen, a procedure of creating an infusion circuitrydiagram as shown in the region 540 in FIG. 5 will be described based onFIG. 6 and FIGS. 7A to 7G, in correspondence with a flow of processingshown in FIGS. 10A and 10B. For creating the infusion line, the startand end points of the line may be defined one after another.Furthermore, flowcharts shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B may be stored in aROM 906 or a HDD 909 as a program, or may be stored in a CD-ROM, aDVD-ROM, a floppy disk or the like.

[0071] First, the medical pump 601 is clicked. When it is clicked, themedical pump goes into a selection state in which its displayed color ischanged or it blinks (FIG. 6, S1003). Since the medical pump 601 isconnected to the medical pump 602, the infusion line is created up tothe junction 1 with the medical pump 602. For this purpose, the operatorsubsequently clicks the junction production button (junction producingmeans) 614 (S1003). Then, the junction is displayed just below themedical pump 601 with the junction being surrounded by a circle, and aninfusion line 110 a is formed in the middle between the medical pump 601and the junction 1 (FIG. 7A, S1004).

[0072] Since the medical pump 602 and the right brachium part of thepatient 27 are connected to the junction produced at this time, then twolines may be drawn from this junction 1. For this purpose, the junction1 surrounded by the circle is first clicked. In this condition, thejunction 1 goes into the selection state (the color inside the circlehighlighted, and so on), and subsequently a right brachium partselection button 608 is clicked (S1018). Furthermore, the order ofclicking the junction and the right brachium part selection button inthis case may be reversed. In this way, the first infusion line L1 isformed from the junction 1 to the right brachium part of the patient(state shown in FIG. 7B, S1019). Subsequently, the junction 1 and themedical pump 602 are clicked one after another, whereby an infusion line110 b is formed from the junction 1 to the medical pump 602 (FIG. 7C,S1018, S1019). In this case, the order of clicking may be reversed aswell.

[0073] Subsequently, a line in which the medical pumps 603 and 604 arejointed at some midpoint and a medical fluid is injected into thepatient at the left thigh part. The medical pump 603 and the junctionproduction button 614 are clicked one after another, whereby a newjunction 2 is displayed below the medical pump 603 with the junction 2being surrounded by a circle (S1003), and an infusion line 110 c isformed in the middle between the medical pump 603 and the junction 2(FIG. 7D, S1004). Subsequently, this junction 2 and the left thigh partselection button 613 are clicked to form the second infusion line L2from the junction 2 to the left thigh part of the patient (FIG. 7E,S1018, S1019).

[0074] Finally, the medical pump 604 and the new junction 2 are clickedone after another, thereby completing the infusion line 110 c (FIG. 7F,S1018, S1019). At this time, if the operator mistakenly clicks the leftthigh part selection button 607 after clicking the medical pump 604, theinfusion line L2 from the medical pump 604 will directly run into theleft thigh part of the patient without passing through the junction 2.If the operator notices the operational error at this time, he or shemay click the return button 615.

[0075] The return button is clicked once, whereby finally conductedaction (clicking of the left thigh part selection button in this case)is determined as being invalid, and the state in which the medical pump604 is selected is provided. The operator clicks the right junction atthis time, thereby enabling an accurate infusion line to be created. Itis also made possible to confirm at a glance the respective medicalpumps 601 to 604 and intravenous injection points 606 to 613 of thepatient. The operator clicks the end button 616 after confirmation.Through this operation, the created diagram of infusion circuitry iscreated as a bmp file format, and is stored in the name of“C:¥Yuekic.bmp”.

[0076] Furthermore, although not described in this embodiment, aninterruption button for interrupting processing to end the infusioncircuitry creation function may be provided. In this embodiment, thejunction is considered as a point, but in the case where transfusionusing three-way stop cocks, Yshaped-tubes, Tshaped-tubes and the like isconducted, a three-way stop cock button and a Yshaped-tube button areprovided in place of the junction production button, thereby making itpossible accommodate the situation.

[0077] Also, although only the bit map file is created in thisembodiment, the history of operational actions is recorded in otherformat separately, thereby making it possible to cope flexibly with thesituation in which infusion circuitry is slightly changed.

[0078] In the aforesaid example, six infusion lines are displayed inFIG. 6. Assuming that display of one infusion line represents oneaction, six actions of:

[0079] (1) drawing a line between the pump 601 and the new junction 1,(2) drawing a line between the junction 1 and the right brachium part ofthe patient, (3) drawing a line between the junction 1 and the pump 602,(4) drawing a line between the pump 603 and the new junction 2, (5)drawing a line between the junction 2 and the left thigh part of thepatient, and (6) drawing a line between the junction 2 and the pump 604are recorded.

[0080] The file in which the previous operational action is recorded isread at the time when an infusion circuitry creation window isdisplayed, the line is drawn in accordance therewith, and selection ofeach drawing action is enabled, thereby making it possible to copequickly with the slight modification from the previously createdcircuitry. Buttons and the like in the window in that case are placed asshown in FIG. 8. In comparison with FIG. 6, the return button is absent,and a history back button 801, a history proceeding button 802 and aline deletion button 803 are newly created.

[0081] Each time the history back button is once pushed, the drawn lineis selected in reverse chronological order (S1005, S1006). In the caseof this embodiment, six lines are displayed at the time when the windowappears, and when the history back button is once clicked, the infusionline between the right-hand junction and the pump 604 is selected. Whenthe history back button is selected once again, the state in which theinfusion line between the right-hand junction and the pump 604 isselected is released, and the infusion line between the right-handjunction and the left thigh part is selected. At this time, when thehistory proceeding button 802 is clicked, the state in which theinfusion line between the right-hand junction and left thigh part isselected is released, and the infusion line between the right-handjunction and the pump 604 is selected (S1009, S1010). When the linedeletion button 803 is clicked with the infusion line selected, theselected infusion line is erased (S1011, S1012).

[0082] When a change is to be made from the flood circuitry shown inFIG. 7 so that administration is given by the medical pump 603 to theleft-hand junction rather than to the right-hand junction, the historyback button is clicked three times after the time when the windowappears. Thereby, the line drawn between the medical pump 603 and theright-hand junction is selected. The line deletion button is clicked inthis condition, followed by clicking the medical pump 603 and theright-hand junction one after another, whereby the infusion line isdrawn between the medical pump 603 and the right-hand junction (FIG.7G). (In this case, strictly speaking, since the existence of junctionbetween the medical pump 604 and the left thigh part is meaningless, theinfusion line between the medical pump 604 and the left-hand junctionand the infusion line between the left-hand junction and the left thighpart should be deleted, and then a line between the medical pump 604 andthe left thigh part should be drawn as one infusion line, but thejunction causes no problems in terms of display.)

[0083] At this time, the end button is clicked, whereby a newly modifieddiagram of infusion circuitry is stored as a bit map file (S1013,S1017). The circle surrounding the junction is displayed in order toallow the operator to select the junction easily, and thereforeinformation of this circle does not need to be stored at the time ofstoring the diagram as a bit map file.

[0084] When the end button pressed, (1) at least two lines should beconnected to the junction. (2) The line should not be formed inloop-like shape. (3) Each pump should be necessarily connected to onepart of the patient. (4) The number of lines running directly from thepump should be less than two. Determination on these conditions isperformed by determining means in the controller (S1014), and processingof displaying an error massage if the condition is satisfied is added(S1015, S1016), thereby making it possible to eliminate operating errorsat the time of creating the infusion circuitry diagram and operators'mistakes.

[0085] The infusion circuitry creation function is ended after the bitmap file is stored (S1017) and normal pump monitor processing is carriedout, but at this time, processing of updating the infusion circuitrydiagram display region 540 to the new bit map file is carried out.

[0086] The administration pass to the patient is selected from aplurality of buttons in this embodiment, but this is for the purpose ofeasy determination of the position of the line, and if it is desiredthat more detailed positions are identified, methods in which the numberof buttons is further increased, click is made directly on the modelpicture of the patient, and so on can also be adopted.

[0087] In this way, a relatively simple infusion circuitry diagram canbe created, but in the case where blood filters and the like areconnected in the infusion circuitry, the fluid is passed through anapparatus that is not monitored by the medical pump monitor before beinginjected, and so on, creation of infusion circuitry diagram by theaforesaid procedure may be complicated. In this case, it can beconsidered that a handwritten diagram of infusion circuitry is placednear the medical pump to make a check, but there is also a possibilityof loss and so on. In this case, it is also possible to read thehandwritten diagram of infusion circuitry and display the diagram. Theinfusion circuitry diagram read function start button 542 is clicked,whereby the scanner 102 is controlled from the controller 100, and thecircuitry diagram set in the scanner 102 is read in the system, and isstored in a format as in the case of the creation of infusion circuitrydescribed previously and in the same name of “C:¥Yuekic.bmp”. Thereby,the system can create the infusion circuitry diagram using the creationfunction, and display/manage the diagram without classifying caseseither when a registration is made or when the scanner 102 is used toread the diagram for making a registration.

[0088] Also, the scanner 102 is used as means for capturing an infusioncircuitry diagram such as a handwritten diagram in this embodiment, butit is apparent that similar effects can be obtained by photographing thehandwritten infusion circuitry diagram by a digital camera and havingthe memory medium of the digital camera read by the controller.

[0089] It is also possible to use a general graphic drawing applicationto create an infusion circuitry diagram and store the same as a bit mapfile, thereby displaying the infusion circuitry created by the graphicdrawing application in this system.

[0090] According to the medical pump system of the present invention, itis possible to provide a system in which the operation conditions of aplurality of medical pumps are monitored for one patient with a functionof creating and editing an infusion line from the pump to the patient oneach-by-each basis, and display information created and edited by meansof this function displayed on the system, thus making it much easier toconfirm (monitor) the current states of infusion lines.

[0091] Other functions of the medical pump system of the presentinvention will be described. FIGS. 21A to 21C show a trend graph of theamount of water displayed after computing the total of the amount ofwater introduced by all the medical pumps that are used (Intake) and theamount of water discharged as urine (Output) is shown. The range of ml/hcan be changed by pressing (clicking) a “+” or “−” key. Also, the amountof water in any time range can be displayed by using “←” or “→”. FIG.21A shows a trend graph of the balance of water (Intake and Output) atthe current time. Since it is difficult to understand at a glance thetotalized water balance between two arbitrary points (for example,between 11:30 and 13:00) in the graph, two arbitrary points (11:30 and13:00) are clicked, whereby the balance of the arbitrarily designatedsegment (between 11:30 and 13:00) can be computed and displayed. Theoperator first clicks a start point of totalizing computation (11:00 inthis case) on the graph. In this figure, when a point near the :11:00 isclicked, a vertical line is displayed in the position of 11:00 (FIG.21B). Then, when the operator clicks an end point of totalizingcomputation (13:00 in this case) on the graph (FIG. 21B), a sub-windowappears on the graph, and time of totalizing computation and Intake andOutput for the arbitrary segment are displayed therein (FIG. 21C). Whena “close” button in the sub-window is clicked, the sub-window disappearsand the normal state in which the graph is displayed (FIG. 21A) isrestored. Also, these totals and trend graphs can be used asdiagnostic/therapeutic data at different location by downloading them tothe FD 906 a or sending them to the host computer or the like throughthe external port 107 a.

[0092]FIG. 22A to 22C show a trend graph of the amount of Na⁺ as oneexample of electrolytes displayed after computing the total of theelectrolytes (Na⁺, Ca²⁺, K⁺, Cl⁻, etc.) introduced by all the medicalpumps that are used or computing the data from the sensor 112. The rangeof mEg can be changed by pressing a “+” or “−” key. Also, the amount ofelectrolytes in an arbitrary time range can be displayed by performingoperations similar to those in FIGS. 21A to 21C and using “←” and “→”.Also, these totals and trend graphs can be used asdiagnostic/therapeutic data at different location by downloading them tothe FD 906 a or sending them to the host computer or the like throughthe external port 107 a. An alarm is given when the amount of theelectrolyte exceeds a preset input value (threshold) The screen may bereduced into quarters to display the amounts of four electrolytes ofNa⁺, Ca²⁺, K⁺, Cl⁻.

[0093] [Second Embodiment]

[0094] The real-time monitoring system of the present invention will bedescribed in detail below, using the drawings. FIG. 11 is a blockdiagram of the present invention. In FIG. 11, an example of connectionof three external apparatuses including medical devises and the likesuch as infusion pumps, syringe pumps, body pressure monitors, bodytemperature monitors, urinary volume monitors and electrocardiographs isshown, but this number of apparatuses can be arbitrarily increased ordecreased. An external apparatus 1 (1121) is connected through acommunication cable to a communication port (external communicationunit) 1 (1111) of this system (1105). In a similar way, an externalapparatus 2 (1122) and an external apparatus 3 (1123) are connected to acommunication port (external communication unit) 2 (1112) and acommunication port (external communication unit) 3 (1113), respectively,in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0095] Communication ports 1(1111), 2(1112) and 3(1113) are broughttogether in a communication unit (1104). For the communication unit(1104), a variety of configurations are possible such as a microcomputercontrol communication board to make connection to a plurality ofcommunication ports and a multiplexer type to switch ports forcommunication when they are used. Signals obtained from thecommunication unit (1104) are stored in storing means (1103), and aresent to a comparison unit (1102) simultaneously. The comparison unitcompares operation (operating) information of the connected externalapparatuses 1(1121), 2(1122) and 3(1123) sent from the communicationunit (1104) with operation (operating) information of the previousexternal apparatuses 1(1121), 2(1122) and 3(1123) stored in the storingunit (1103), and sends a non-change signal to a control unit (1101) ifthere is no difference, and sends a differential signal to the controlunit (1101) if there is a difference. The control unit (1101) changesthe contents of the display unit based on the signal from the abovedescribed comparison unit. Furthermore, the communication unit (1104)and the communication ports (1111 to 1113) in FIG. 11 correspond to thecontroller 100 in FIG. 1.

[0096] The flow of the present invention will be described further indetail. Presenting as one example a case where three of flow meters formeasuring flows of fluids, which represent one type of medicalapparatuses, are used as external apparatuses, a system displaying eachof the flows and the total flow on the display unit by real timemonitoring and a controlling method therefore will be described alongwith a flowchart shown in FIG. 20. A program corresponding to theflowchart shown in FIG. 20 may be stored in the storing unit (1103) inFIG. 11, or may be provided by a CD-ROM and the like. A screenconfiguration on the display unit 1100 of the system of the presentinvention is shown in FIG. 12. The flow values of the flow meter 1, ofthe flow meter 2 and of the flow meter 3 are displayed in textboxobjects 1(1201), 2(1202) and 3(1203), respectively in such a manner thattheir actual placement can be visually confirmed. Also, the total flowvalue obtained by adding up the values of the flow meters 1, 2 and 3 isdisplayed in a textbox object 4 (1204).

[0097] Communication between the system (1105) and the flow meters 1, 2and 3 will be described as a command respond mode in which the currentflow values of the flow meters 1, 2 and 3 are sent back when requestsignals from the communication unit (1104) are received, but it can alsobe configured with a mode in which signals from the flow meters 1, 2 and3 are unilaterally sent to the host system at a fixed time interval inan asynchronous manner, and so on. Furthermore, in actual systems,signals showing the start and end of the signal such as STX and ETX andchecksum signals are often added, but these signals are omitted in thisembodiment. In this embodiment, flow value signals from the flow meters1, 2 and 3 show 2-byte numbers of four figures in BCD code with the unitof 0.1 ml/h. For example, the flow value signal shows a flow value of190.0 ml/h when a 2-byte code of 1900 in hexadecimal digit data is sent.

[0098] The storing unit (1103) needs an area of six bites in total forstoring two bytes of information from three flow meters 1, 2 and 3,respectively. For example, if the flow values of the flow meters 1, 2and 3 are 100.0 ml/h, 200.0 ml/h and 300.0 ml/h, respectively,information as shown in FIG. 13 is stores in the 6-byte area of thestoring unit (1103).

[0099] The communication unit (1104) sends request signals to the flowmeters 1, 2 and 3 (S2001), performs processing of receiving flow valuesfrom the flow meters 1, 2 and 3 for the three flowmeters 1, 2 and 3 oneafter another (S2002), and sends the data to the comparison unit (1102)at the time of obtaining the flow values from the three flow meters 1, 2and 3 (S2003).

[0100] The comparison unit (1102) compares the signal sent from thecommunication unit (1104) with the data stored in the storing unit(1103) (S2004), and sends a non-change signal (for example, ahexadecimal digit 1-byte signal of AA in hexadecimal digits) to thecontrol unit (1101) if the data equal each other (S2006). If informationof the binary of the flow meters 1, 2 and 3 stored in the storing unit(1103) is of 1000 in hexadecimal digits, the signal sent from thecommunication unit (1104) is of 1200 in hexadecimal digits, a 3byte-signal of 021200 in hexadecimal digits is sent to the control unit(1101). The “02” equivalent to the first byte number in this case is anumber corresponding to the connected flow meters 1, 2 and 3, and if theflow meter of which flow value is changed is the flow meter denoted by3, this value will be “03”. As described above, the differential signalis represented by “external apparatus number” + “flow value” in theembodiment.

[0101] The control unit (1101) does not perform change/control of thedisplay unit (1100) if the signal from the comparison unit (1103) is anon-change signal, and if a signal with the flow changed is sent, thecontrol unit (1101) sends to the display unit (1100) processinginstructions to change the displayed contents of the display unit (1100)based on the signal with the flow changed. If a signal of 021400 inhexadecimal digits is sent from the comparison unit (1102) when thecontents shown in FIG. 12 are displayed on the display unit (1100), thecontents of the display unit (1100) are rewritten to those as shown inFIG. 14. Specifically, the contents of the textbox 2 (1402) arerewritten from 120.0 ml/h to 140.0 ml/h, and following this change, thetotal flow value in the textbox object 4 (1404) is rewritten 365.0 ml/hto 385.0 ml/h.

[0102] The signal with the flow changed is represented by “the number ofthe flow meter with the flow changed” +“the flow value after changing”in the embodiment, but in the case where values of two or more flowmeters are changed, two signals put together may be sent. For example,if the flow value of the flow meter 1 is changed from 90.0 ml/h to 100.0ml/h, and the flow value of the flow meter 3 is changed from 120.0 ml/hto 80 ml/h, a 6-byte signal of 011000030800 in hexadecimal digits may besent as for a signal that is sent from the comparison unit to sendingmeans.

[0103] Also, in the above described case, since the byte number of thedifferential signal varies depending on the number of externalapparatuses with the flow value changed in such a manner that when thenumbers of external apparatuses with the flow value changed are one, twoand three, the byte numbers of the differential signal are 3 bytes, 6bytes and 9 bytes, respectively, the control unit (101) of a masterneeds processing consistent with the byte number of the differentialsignal, thus putting a burden on information processing (signalprocessing). Then, in stead of sending selectively the flow value of theexternal apparatus with the flow value changed, all the flow valuesamongthe external apparatuses 1(1121), 2(1122) and 3(1123) may be sentif at least one of all the flow values of the external apparatuses1(1121), 2(1122) and 3(1123) is changed. In this case, since the bytenumber of the differential signal is constant 9 bytes, a burden oninformation processing (signal processing) can be reduced. Furthermore,for whether all the flow values are sent or the flow value subjected tochange is selectively sent, changes can be made as appropriate dependingon the number of external apparatuses connected to the system (1105),the frequency of changing external apparatuses and the importance ofpatient monitor information.

[0104] As described above, in this system (1105), operation information(operation signals) among the external apparatuses 1(1121), 2(1122) and3(1123) are received in succession, and past operation informationstored in the storing unit (1103) and operation information currentlyreceived from the external apparatuses 1(1121), 2(1122) and 3(1123) areoutputted. The comparison unit (1102) compares the past operationinformation with the current operation information, generatesinformation (differential information) showing a difference between thepast operation information and the current operation information andsends the information to the control unit (1101). Thereby, the controlunit may avoid performing change/control of the display unit unlessthere is no substantial difference, thus making it possible to reduce aburden on information processing even if a large number of externalapparatuses such as medical pumps are used. Furthermore, the informationshowing a difference (differential information) is constituted at leastby the aforesaid external apparatus number (information indicating anexternal apparatus sending current information different from the pastinformation it sent), whereby the amount of information to be sent tothe control unit can be reduced as compared with operation informationfrom the external apparatus, and this reduction of the amount ofinformation also makes it possible to reduce a burden on informationprocessing (signal processing) in the control unit. If the communicationunit sends repeatedly request signals for requesting information fromthe external apparatuses 1(1121), 2(1122) and 3(1123) in predeterminedtiming, the control unit does not need to dispatch the request signal,thereby making it possible to reduce a burden on information processing(signal processing) in the control unit. Consequently, a monitoringsystem can be built, which causes no drop in response when the controlunit concurrently performs processings of the keyboard and various kindsof switches (not shown) as HMI (Human Machine Interface).

[0105] Furthermore, the contents in the storing unit (1103) is set 0 (ordata outside the normal range) at the time of starting the system,whereby the data of all the flow meters are sent to the control unit(1101) because the data of the flow meters 1, 2 and 3 obtained from thecommunication unit (1104) are different from the information stored inthe storing unit (1103), and the latest flow values of the flow metersare automatically displayed on the display unit (1100) when the systemstarts.

[0106] There are cases where information from the flow meters 1, 2 and 3is not constituted by just flow values, but alarm information of theflow meters 1, 2 and 3 and the like are added thereto to increase theamount of information. In that case, comparison time and the amount ofinformation to be stored are reduced in the control unit (1101) and inthe storing unit (1103), respectively, thereby making it possible toachieve speed enhancement of processing associated with reduction involume of comparison and a drop in price associated with reduction instorage memory areas. Specific methods thereof will be described usingFIGS. 15, 16 and 17.

[0107] In FIG. 15, communication data obtained by the communication unitin the case of large amount of information is shown. In communicationdata, a slave address showing a number of a slave (external apparatus)and data comprised of operation conditions of slaves are exist between aheader such as STX and a terminator such as ETX. First, data such asoperation conditions are decomposed out of received data (decompositionA). Coding by exclusive OR (XOR) (BCC: Block Check Character) isperformed for data of this decomposition A by each word from theheading, what is finally produced is considered as BCC 1 (Type Itransformation). Furthermore, with an inverse (NOT) of the decompositionA is being decomposition B, and coding by summation by each word (ADD)is performed for data of this decomposition B, and what is finallyproduced is considered as BCC 2 (Type II transformation). These adoptlower 16 bits. Data change is considered to have occurred, from changesin BCC1 and BCC2. BCC coding is generally used and its reliability isacknowledged, but further coding processing is performed using reverseddata in calculation, and two BCCs having no causal relation are comparedwith each other, thereby improving safety. Due to this safety, theamount of data can be reduced as shown in FIG. 16 without storing allreceived data to shorten memory access time. Also, if the receivedsignal includes BCC in advance, the BCC data is directly used, wherebythe above described decomposition work and calculation processing can bereduced and further enhancement of the speed can be expected.

[0108] A series of the flow thereof will be described using FIG. 17. Aportion of data in which the operation conditions of slaves and the like(decomposition A) is fetched out of the communication data, and XORcomputation of 16 bits thereof is performed to provide BCC1. Also, withan inverse of decomposition A being decomposition B, lower 16 bitsresulting from ADD computation of decomposition B are considered as BCC2(Step S1700). A slave address is read from the communication data, andthe past BCC1 and BCC2 corresponding to this address are read from thestoring unit (1103) (Step S1701). The current BCC2 is compared with thepast BCC2 read from the storing unit, and advancement to Step S1704 ismade if their contents are different from each other, and advancement toStep S1703 is made if their contents are identical to each other (StepS1702). If their contents are identical to each other in Step S1702, thecurrent BCC1 is compared with the past BCC1 read from the storing unit(1103), and advancement to Step S1704 is made if their contents aredifferent from each other, and processing is ended without communicatingwith the host based on the assumption that the communication conditionfor the slave address remains unchanged if their contents are identicalto each other (Step S1706). If the current data and the past data aredifferent from each other in Step S1702 and Step S1703, BCC1 and BCC2are written along with the corresponding slave address (Step S1704).Information of change of operation conditions and the like is sent tothe external apparatus corresponding to the slave address (Step S1705)and processing is ended (Step S1706). By performing such processing, thenumber of bytes to be subjected to comparison can be reduced to shortenprocessing time, data to be stored can be reduced to the minimum tospeed up time of read/write in the storing unit (1103), andcommunication time can also be reduced because only data associated withchange in slaves is sent to the host. Furthermore, a protocol such thatno signals are sent to the host in the case of no changes is presentedin FIG. 17, but it is easy to make a modification thereto so that ashort non-signal change is sent.

[0109] If information further increases, in addition to comparison BCC1and BCC2 in the previous example, parity data (equivalent data) of eachdata is stored, and its change is detected, thereby making it possibleto make a quick check on which portion of communication data has datasubjected to change. FIGS. 18 and 19 show a method of detecting theposition of changed data. Structures of BCC data and parity data fordata such as the operation condition of the slave are shown in FIG. 18.Processing is performed as in the case of FIG. 15 in the previousexample with respect to BCC, and for this data, parity data havingparity codes corresponding to the bit of each 1-byte data put togetheron an eight-by-eight basis is also to be checked as data of the verticalcomponent, in addition to the lateral check system. Stored contents inthe storing unit (1103) when such a method of detecting the position ofchanged data are shown in FIG. 19. Parity data are aligned in successionafter each slave address, and after that, BCC1 and BCC2 similar to thoseshown in FIG. 16 are stored. In this example, parity data are data ofP1, P2, P3 and Pn. Pn increases/decreases with the increase/decrease ofcommunication data 8 bytes. The processing flow thereof is similar tothat shown in FIG. 17, if it is determined in Step S1702 and Step S1703that the past BCC data and the current BCC data are different from eachother, past parity data is compared with current parity data for eachparity data before the BCC data is written in the memory, parity datawith difference found and the BCC data are written in a correspondingmemory area, and the data and the slave address corresponding to theparity subjected to change are selectively sent to the host.Specifically, the flow value of the slave for initial 8 bytes of thedata, information associated with supplied voltage of the flow meter fornext 8 bytes of the data, alarm information associated with the numberof rotations of the apparatus for subsequent 8 bytes of the data, andcontinuous operation time for final 8 bytes of the data are sent. Ifdifference is found for the parity of the third byte in a slave, onlyalarm information associated with the number of rotations for acorresponding slave address may selectively be sent, and thus hostsending time can be reduced significantly, leading to reduction in totaltime.

[0110] In this way, according to the real-time monitoring system and thecontrolling method therefore and the program storage medium of thepresent invention, operation states, alarm information, etc. of externalapparatuses including a plurality of medical apparatuses such asinfusion pumps, syringe pumps and blood pressure monitors having a largeamount of send data can be monitored in real time.

[0111] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments andvarious changes and modifications can be made within the spirit andscope of the present invention. Therefore, to apprise the public of thescope of the present invention, the following claims are made.

What is claimed is:
 1. A medical pump monitor system using a pluralityof medical pumps to administer medical fluids and the like for apatient, monitoring flows of delivered fluids and alarm information ofthe medical pumps through cable communication and/or wirelesscommunication, wherein infusion circuitry creating means forsetting/changing the connection conditions of infusion lines from theplurality of medical pumps, and administration passes and/oradministration positions for the patient is provided, and it is madepossible to display infusion circuitry data created in the infusioncircuitry creating means on a monitor screen by operations by anoperator of the medical pump monitor system.
 2. The pump monitor systemaccording to claim 1, wherein reading means for reading an infusioncircuitry diagram such as a handwritten diagram in the medical pumpmonitor system is provided, and it is made possible to make a choice byoperator's operations on whether infusion circuitry information to bedisplayed during operation of the medical pump monitor system isinformation created using the infusion circuitry creating means orinformation created using said infusion circuitry diagram reading means.3. The medical pump monitor system according to claim 1, wherein saidinfusion circuitry creating means displays a sketch of the patient withrespect to determination of the administration position for the patient,and inputting in the medical pump monitor system any positioninformation in the sketch, thereby making a determination asadministration closest to the inputted position information.
 4. Themedical pump monitor system according to claim 1, wherein said infusioncircuitry creating means further comprises determining means for makinga check for the infusion line not suited to a practical method fortransfusion.
 5. The medical pump monitor system according to claim 1,wherein said fluid delivery circuitry creation means can select anoptimal pump arrangement pattern from a plurality of pump arrangementpatterns registered in advance.
 6. The medical pump monitor systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the determining means makes adetermination on existence of loop-shaped lines in the infusion line,and gives an alarm to the operator if there exist a loop shaped line. 7.The medical pump monitor system according to claim 1, wherein thedetermining means determines whether two or more of the infusion linesrun directly from the medical pump, and gives an alarm to the operatorif two or more of infusion lines run directly therefrom.
 8. The medicalpump monitor system according to claim 1, wherein the determining meansdetermines whether the infusion line is ended at some midpoint withoutreaching the patient, and gives an alarm to the operator of the medicalpump monitor system if the infusion line is ended at some midpoint. 9.The medical pump monitor system according to claim 1, wherein thedetermining means determines whether the infusion line is necessarilyformed towards at least one position of the patient from the medicalpump, and gives an alarm to the operator if the infusion line is notnecessarily formed towards at least one position of the patient from themedical pump.
 10. The medical pump monitor system according to claim 1,wherein the determining means determines whether the infusion lineinserted into a specified portion of the patient is inserted into thepatient again, and gives an alarm to the operator if the infusion lineinserted into a specified portiion of the patient is inserted into thepatient again.
 11. The medical pump monitor system according to claim 1,wherein the determining means determines whether the infusion line fromthe operating medical pump is not connected to the patient, and gives analarm to the operator if the infusion line from the operating medicalpump is not connected to the patient.
 12. The medical pump monitorsystem according to claim 1, wherein the monitor screen can displaythereon real-time states or trends in arbitrary time ranges for at leastany one of the amount of water, the urinary volume and the amount ofelectrolytes.
 13. A controlling method for a medical pump monitor systemusing a plurality of medical pumps to administer medical fluids and thelike for a patient, monitoring flows of delivered fluids and alarminformation of the medical pumps through cable communication and/orwireless communication, comprising: an infusion circuitry creating stepof setting/changing the connection conditions of infusion lines from theplurality of medical pumps, and administration passes and/oradministration positions for the patient; and a step of making itpossible to display infusion circuitry data created in the infusioncircuitry creating means on a monitor screen by operations by anoperator of the medical pump monitor system.
 14. A computer readablememory storing therein program codes for controlling a medical pumpmonitor system using a plurality of medical pumps to administer medicalfluids and the like for a patient, monitoring flows of delivered fluidsand alarm information of the medical pumps through cable communicationand/or wireless communication, comprising program codes of: an infusioncircuitry creating step of setting/changing the connection conditions ofinfusion lines from the plurality of medical pumps, and administrationpasses and/or administration positions for the patient; and a step ofmaking it possible to display infusion circuitry data created in theinfusion circuitry creating means on a monitor screen by operations byan operator of the medical pump monitor system.
 15. A real-timemonitoring system performing real time communication with externalapparatuses including one or more medical apparatuses, and controllingthe external apparatuses and/or displaying the conditions of theexternal apparatuses, comprising: communicating means for communicatingwith the external apparatuses; displaying means for displaying theconditions of the external apparatuses; storing means for storing one ormore past communication data obtained by the communicating means;comparing means for comparing currently communicated data with pastdata; and controlling means for controlling contents to be displayed onthe displaying means, based on signals from the comparing means, whereinthe comparing means reduces the amount of the data and/or eliminates theamount of the data for the amount of signals to be sent to thecontrolling means, in the case where the past data and the current dataare identical to each other in comparison with the case where the pastdata and the current data are different from each other.
 16. A real-timemonitoring system performing real time communication with externalapparatuses including one or more medical apparatuses, and controllingthe external apparatuses and/or displaying the conditions of theexternal apparatuses, comprising: communicating means for communicatingwith the external apparatuses; displaying means for displaying theconditions of the external apparatuses; storing means for storing one ormore past communication data obtained by the communicating means;comparing means for comparing currently communicated data with pastdata; and controlling means for controlling contents to be displayed onthe displaying means, based on signals from the comparing means, whereinthe comparing means selectively sends only a portion where the past dataand the current data are different from each other, for the signals tobe sent to the controlling means.
 17. The real-time monitoring systemaccording to claim 15, wherein the communicating means, the comparingmeans and the storing means are unified, and are separated from thedisplaying means and the controlling means.
 18. The real-time monitoringsystem according to claim 15, wherein the external apparatuses ismedical apparatuses comprising communicating means such as infusionpumps and urinary volume meters, and contents that are displayed on thedisplaying means are operation and stop information, flows, alarmconditions from apparatuses, information of administrated drugs,administration information and patient information.
 19. A controllingmethod for a real-time monitoring system performing real timecommunication with external apparatuses including one or more medicalapparatuses, and controlling the external apparatuses and/or displayingthe conditions of the external apparatuses, comprising steps of: storingin storing means one or more past communication data obtained bycommunicating means for communicating with the external apparatuses;comparing currently communicated data with past data by comparing means;and controlling contents to be displayed on the displaying means, basedon signals from the comparing means, wherein said method comprises astep in which the comparing means performs control to reduce the amountof the data and/or eliminate the amount of the data for the amount ofsignals to be sent to the controlling means, in the case where the pastdata and the current data are identical to each other in comparison withthe case where the past data and the current data are different fromeach other.
 20. A controlling method for a real-time monitoring systemperforming real time communication with external apparatuses includingone or more medical apparatuses, and controlling the externalapparatuses and/or displaying the conditions of the externalapparatuses, comprising steps of: storing in storing means one or morepast communication data obtained by communicating means forcommunicating with the external apparatuses; comparing currentlycommunicated data with past data by comparing means; and controllingcontents to be displayed on the displaying means, based on signals fromthe comparing means, wherein said method comprises a step in which thecomparing means selectively sends only a portion where the past data andthe current data are different from each other, for the signals to besent to the controlling means.
 21. A computer readable record mediumstoring therein program codes of a controlling method for a real-timemonitoring system performing real time communication with externalapparatuses including one or more medical apparatuses, and controllingthe external apparatuses and/or displaying the conditions of theexternal apparatuses, comprising program codes of steps of: storing instoring means one or more past communication data obtained bycommunicating means for communicating with the external apparatuses;comparing currently communicated data with past data by comparing means;and controlling contents to be displayed on the displaying means, basedon signals from the comparing means, wherein said computer readablerecord medium comprises a program code of a controlling step in whichthe comparing means performs control to reduce the amount of the dataand/or eliminate the amount of the data for the amount of signals to besent to the controlling means, in the case where the past data and thecurrent data are identical to each other in comparison with the casewhere the past data and the current data are different from each other.22. A computer readable record medium storing therein program codes of acontrolling method for a real-time monitoring system performing realtime communication with external apparatuses including one or moremedical apparatuses, and controlling the external apparatuses and/ordisplaying the conditions of the external apparatuses, comprisingprogram codes of steps of: storing in storing means one or more pastcommunication data obtained by communicating means for communicatingwith the external apparatuses; comparing currently communicated datawith past data by comparing means; and controlling contents to bedisplayed on the displaying means, based on signals from the comparingmeans, wherein said computer readable record medium comprises a programcode of a step in which the comparing means selectively sends only aportion where the past data and the current data are different from eachother, for the signals to be sent to the controlling means.